Prejudices When Choosing A Bass

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

This.  A bridge specifically and carefully designed so as not to work.

 

I know you're joking, but I can assure you that it works just fine, in that it hold the strings in place, intonated.

 

The three point hate is getting a bit old - there are worse bridges out there by some distance.  I don't mind it, it works, it doesn't eat babies.  Set and forget, job's a good 'un.  I can see how its foibles would irritate a tinkerer or frequent string changer.  I just leave it alone to do its job, seems to be the best approach.

[Wolverinebass]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

 

I know you're joking, but I can assure you that it works just fine, in that it hold the strings in place, intonated.

 

The three point hate is getting a bit old - there are worse bridges out there by some distance.  I don't mind it, it works, it doesn't eat babies.  Set and forget, job's a good 'un.  I can see how its foibles would irritate a tinkerer or frequent string changer.  I just leave it alone to do its job, seems to be the best approach.

Yes, there are worse bridges. Even Rickenbacker replaced theirs eventually.

 

When I got my Epiphone Thunderbird I couldn't get it to intonate properly at the action I wanted. I grant, that is exceptionally low, but it was infuriating that either the D or G string could never be got to intonate properly. So, after a few hours of creative swearing I ordered a Hipshot. Unsurprisingly, that worked exceptionally well.

 

The simple fact is the 3 point bridge is crap if you want a super low action. Gibson don't care about bass players so we get the scraps from the table and a bridge made in a cave by bending some corrugated iron bin lids into a weird dolphin shape and saying "that'll do."

 

However, on a more serious note, maybe it should be "bridges that are amazingly difficult to adjust." 

[Skin Lewis]

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

 I don't mind it, it works, it doesn't eat babies. 

 

The one on my Jack Casady did. 

[msb]

I was always able to set them exactly where things needed to go without any drama or cursing. And yet I’ve replaced three of them with Hipshots. I just thought they looked better.

They are much better for palm muting , and they certainly have much greater adjustability.

 

 

[3below]

The lack of length behind the saddles is my (main) gripe with the three point bridge.  How hard (and not expensive) would it be to change the casting so that the E string does not rest on the silk or where the winding is not yet correctly established.  P*&# poor engineering.  Saying that, the rest of my SG bass now fitted with a Hipshot bridge and machines  is really good, especially the fretwork.

Edited December 16, 2023 by 3below

[msb]

Didn’t have any issues with silk or winding , It was either LaBella flats or Gibson BriteWire rounds I was using. 
 

I’m shallow enough to switch the bridges over because they looked better.

[moley6knipe]

On 05/12/2023 at 10:58, Chienmortbb said:

It bugs me that:

• any bass is not offered in Black.
• a headstock on a 4 string has a 3 + 1 machinehead pattern.
• someone says they can only use one brand or type of bass,

 

What are your prejudices?

Excellent thread 👏🏻

 

- 5 strings, B-G

- 18mm or less at the bridge

- two soapbar shape humbuckers

- need to see the grain in the body wood

- three band active 18v preamp

- side mounted jack

- 10lbs or less

Edited December 17, 2023 by moley6knipe

[Marvin]

I'd like a Cort A4 Plus, but I don't like the look of the bridge. It looks a faff to set the intonation on it.

 

I'm not keen on gold hardware, or black for that matter.

 

Natural finishes, no thank you. Although I do have a natural finish bass, sort of, that I love. It's got a heavy lacquer finish, which I should hate really, but don't.

 

Pointy basses, not really my thing.

 

Light colour finish. I tend to gravitate to darker colours. 

 

There's probably more.

[lonestar]

Most of my prejudices are based on aesthetic features:

Single cut basses

Coffee table finishes, often goes with the above.

Relic’d basses

Headless basses.

The look of Alembics, apart from John Entwistle explorer one, although I’m sure they’re superb basses, if a bit extortionate.

Ditto Wal and Warwick shapes. 

 

I play four and five string basses but have never felt the need for a six. 

[crazycloud]

8 hours ago, Marvin said:

I'd like a Cort A4 Plus, but I don't like the look of the bridge. It looks a faff to set the intonation on it.

Pity that looks and reality are different things.

[Grassie]

I don't like:

 

Burst finishes

3-point bridges

Active basses (except for Stingrays)

Pointy basses (BC Rich in particular)

Most of these horrible hand made things that are made out of cr@p like woodworm-riddled slabs. Pretentious nonsense.

[Lfalex v1.1]

@Shambo

 

The Americans have station wagons with tonewood panels...

[dclaassen]

25 minutes ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

@Shambo

 

The Americans have station wagons with tonewood panels...

Like this?

[squire5]

On 06/12/2023 at 10:36, Lord Summerisle said:

Exactly. A tuner is either a device showing the correct pitch for each note, or it’s an ocean fish.

When you think about it though,'machine head' is a weird substitute for tuner.You'd think maybe that the Machine Head was the large flat part at the top of the neck,where the 'Tuning machines' are situated.😃

[Guest]

12 hours ago, squire5 said:

When you think about it though,'machine head' is a weird substitute for tuner.You'd think maybe that the Machine Head was the large flat part at the top of the neck,where the 'Tuning machines' are situated.😃

This makes sense too. Personally I don’t really care if anyone calls two different things “tuners”. I also never lost any sleep as a child worrying about the dual meaning of “compass” and I don’t recall anyone going on a Cub Scout hike getting lost because they brought an item which draws circles rather than points north.

[Alfie]

A new bass needs to be pristine, untouched by man (or woman), not even by the guy who built it.

 

My dream is to one day buy a Fender Custom Shop instrument and never even open the outer packaging. Just be happy in the knowledge that I have it and happily can go about knocking more dings into my frankenbass.

[Lender]

It has to be a bolt on. I still look at neck-through basses and sometimes get tempted. Then I remember that I seldom get the response and attack

to my liking. I once bought a Tobias signature six-string and regretted it right away in the first band practice. 😅

 

So, preferably 4 strings and passive.

[Chienmortbb]

On 19/12/2023 at 12:13, Lord Summerisle said:

This makes sense too. Personally I don’t really care if anyone calls two different things “tuners”. I also never lost any sleep as a child worrying about the dual meaning of “compass” and I don’t recall anyone going on a Cub Scout hike getting lost because they brought an item which draws circles rather than points north.

When I started playing, there were Tuning Pegs on many stringed instruments, but on electric guitars there were machine heads. There were no "Tuners" we used pitch pipes and our ears. You can tell this  on some recordings from the 60s and even 70s. Now we have electronic Tuners, people insist on calling machine heads tuners. You can call a dog a cat, but do not expect it to catch mice.

[funkgod]

pointy headstocks

sharp angles in bodys.

headless basses

stick basses

roundwound or tapewound strings

cheap electrics that have next to no variance in tone

glued in headstocks

light bass bodys

maple fretless necks

stock musicman stingray pickups, they still not addressed that out of line G pole piece

that plastic chad valley ronco  stingray battery holder.

the newer wide G&L natural maple necks ( awfull)

bridges that when the barrels are on the base the strings are still too high. ( more to do with the neck pocket too high really)

sh!t tuners that unwind themselfs

carved engraved bodys

single cut away bodys

fat chunky necks

basses that are more "ART" than usable bass, like overpriced over the top Alembics.

semi body basses with F holes, though some do look great.

fanned fret boards.

see through resin bodys

covers over pickups, right where i want play

pickups that are right on the end of the neck, i can get my fingers under to snap,

and last but not least... Anything that says rickenbacker

 

im pritty sure that covers most of it 🙂

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by funkgod

[snorkie635]

1 hour ago, funkgod said:

pointy headstocks

sharp angles in bodys.

headless basses

stick basses

roundwound or tapewound strings

cheap electrics that have next to no variance in tone

glued in headstocks

light bass bodys

maple fretless necks

stock musicman stingray pickups, they still not addressed that out of line G pole piece

that plastic chad valley ronco  stingray battery holder.

the newer wide G&L natural maple necks ( awfull)

bridges that when the barrels are on the base the strings are still too high. ( more to do with the neck pocket too high really)

sh!t tuners that unwind themselfs

carved engraved bodys

single cut away bodys

fat chunky necks

basses that are more "ART" than usable bass, like overpriced over the top Alembics.

semi body basses with F holes, though some do look great.

fanned fret boards.

see through resin bodys

covers over pickups, right where i want play

pickups that are right on the end of the neck, i can get my fingers under to snap,

and last but not least... Anything that says rickenbacker

 

 

 

 

I reckon you and @Jackroadkill should team up, pick an unsuspecting music shop and annihilate all their bass stock in one blitzkrieg visit. 😎

[funkgod]

25 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

I reckon you and @Jackroadkill should team up, pick an unsuspecting music shop and annihilate all their bass stock in one blitzkrieg visit. 😎

 

yeee haarrr , Let me at them :-), i could walk down the line of them cr@p, cr@p cr@p cr@p cr@p cr@p cr@p cr@p cr@p ..meehhhh av ya got any plecs ? ?.. ahhh.... yeaaa there cr@p too, ah well..bye 😋

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by funkgod

[Chienmortbb]

1 hour ago, funkgod said:

sh!t tuners that unwind themselfs

A’re you trying to annoy me?

[Reggaebass]

After going through so many basses over the years there are some things that are not for me, although not as particular as some 😁

no blue or green colours 

no gold hardware 

no 5 strings any more 

No natural finishes 

No neck-through’s

 

 

[funkgod]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

A’re you trying to annoy me?

youd fink with spell checker it would sort it all out for you wouldn't yo?, yea.. that's cr@p as well 🙂

[tauzero]

On 20/12/2023 at 15:07, Chienmortbb said:

When I started playing, there were Tuning Pegs on many stringed instruments, but on electric guitars there were machine heads. There were no "Tuners" we used pitch pipes and our ears. You can tell this  on some recordings from the 60s and even 70s. Now we have electronic Tuners, people insist on calling machine heads tuners. You can call a dog a cat, but do not expect it to catch mice.

 

There's this new Act of Parliament coming in...